Ok
so I know my emails have been less than stellar these past couple weeks
so I'm going to make up for it with two killer stories. Listo? Lets
go.
Story number one. We were sitting on the side of the
street that borders Lake Titicaca, visiting an Hermana named Braulia.
She is a super cute old lady and she doesn't know how to read so we
started teaching her.... Wednesday I believe. She has a little store she
runs (Actually not a store. More like a little wagon she keeps under
this make shift tent she uses as shelter from the sun) and this is where
we teach her at. Hermana Gonzalez made this cute little book for her to
practice writing and everything so she was doing that when a guy came
over to buy something. And in the process of this, a bottle fell.
About... 6 or 7 feet away from where I was sitting, a dog was just
chilling there and minding its own business. After the bottle fell, I
went to go get it and return it to the wagon. So i get up, take about.. 2
and a half steps, and all the sudden I feel teeth in my ankle. I looked
down, and there was a dog clamped onto me. Imagine my surprise. I
screamed, kicked, and ran. It didn't hold on or anything, but after it
happened, all, I could think about was the discussion we had about dogs
in the mission home when I first got to Cuzco. And two words stuck in my
mind. Rabies and shots. Yeah so I was bitten by a potentially rabid
dog. Fun right! And everyone I talked to was like "Hermana's NEVER get
bitten! I have never heard of an Hermana getting bitten!" I mean lucky
me right? So I may or may not have rabies right now as we speak. I have
to wait 10 days from the incident (So Friday) to find the dog and see if
it's dead or not. If it's dead, that means I have rabies and need
treatment. Which sounds horrible. If we find it alive, I'm good. Rabies
free. The only problem is that I cannot remember for the life of me what
the dang thing looked like. So if I can't find it at all, treatment it
is.
Alright so same story same day, about 30ish minutes later. We all
know how the drunks love me and I have way more stories about encounters
with drunks than I care to count, but this one was just so gosh darn
funny! So yeah like a half hour after the whole dog thing, we were
walking back to our house to call our district leader and tell him the
whole terrible story. I was a little hysterical still, thinking about
shots and all, when a seriously drunk man walks up to us and starts
talking to Hna Gonzalez about me. Where's she from, what's her name,
where's she going, all sorts of stuff he asked. She told him I was from
Cajamarca (are there white people in Cajamarca? because this is always
her go to city...) and that I was mute. To this he responded that it
didn't matter whether or not I could talk, he still loved me just the
way I was. After this, he gets down on one knee and starts reciting
poetry to me in Spanish with hand motions and all the theatrics. So I
had myself a learned drunk. That was new. After his proclamations of
love, he stands back up, digs out his wallet and hands me 50 SOLES! Ha
but get this, they were fake. So 50 false soles is what I am worth
apparently. I think I'm worth a little bit more.... Any ways he hands me
the counterfeit money, looks at Hna. Gonzalez's tag, reads "Jesu Cristo"
and turns to me, talking to Hna Gonzalez, and says "I love her more
than Jesus does." And then he walked away. And that was that And I was
left with his generous donation of 50 soles. This is by far my favorite
encounter with drunks. And I will keep that 50 soles my whole life. Its
taped to my wall right now.
Story number 2
WE HAD A
BAPTISM!!! Ok I kept the details of this one private because last time I
talked to you guys about our two baptisms, they both fell through. Not
that I'm superstitious. Just a little stitious. But yeah now I will
freely spill the details. Her name is Maxi, I believe I've talked about
her once before... not sure. Anyways. She's 17 and her older sister
Miriam is a recent convert. We've been working with the other sister
Carmen to baptize her because she's of age. But Carmen left for...
somewhere so we've been working with Maxi, regardless that she didn't
have permission from her parents yet to be baptized. Well like 2 ish
weeks ago, we met with her parents, and the agreed and signed the papers
and it was just a joyous little reunion and then this past Saturday,
Maxi was Baptized!!! My first baptism!!
But it did not go off without a
hitch. I teach an English class on Saturdays at 4 and Maxi's baptism was
scheduled for 5. So we told her to meet us there at 4 for the English
class and while I taught, Hna G was going to help Maxi get all situated
and everything. So we get to the chapel at like 3:45, and wait. And
wait. 4:30 passes, and no Maxi to be found. then its 5. Still no Maxi.
then 5:30. And still no. Meanwhile we have people showing up for a
baptism that doesn't look like its going to happen, and Hna Gonzalez and
I are frantic because we can't even call her because she doesn't have a
phone. So we call her cousin Silvia, who has been a member for about 2
years. And Silvia tells us that Maxi doesn't want to come, and then
hangs up. I've never felt my heart break... harder. We were so sure that
she was going to come because we saw her the night before and she was
super excited and everyone was excited and we just could not believe
that this was happening! Hna G is crying, I'm on the verge of tears, and
we have no Idea what to do. Elder Flores comes up to us and asks us
what happened and we explained and he told us to call again. So we did.
This time Miriam answers and tells us that she and Maxi and Silvia and
Veronica (another cousin) are on their way right now and not to worry,
and then that very second, they all jump out of a bus right in front of
the chapel and maxi is with them all ready to go! Yeah turns out it was a
horribly cruel trick that Silvia decided to tell us for who knows why
and I'm still a little ticked at it because WHO DOES THAT!! But it
doesn't matter because Maxi came, I gave a talk and sang, most of the
people that we asked came, and MAXI WAS BAPTIZED!!! It was super cool
to see someone that I had been working with and thought we'd never have
the chance to baptize her go down into the water with Elder Bodily and
make that sacred covenant with Heavenly Father. And the best part was
that I knew she knew what she was doing. That she was doing it for
herself, not for us, not for her sisters or her cousins, but because she
had a testimony for herself. So yeah, super cool. By far the coolest
moment I've had on my mission.
So yeah these are my stories
to make up for my lameness for the past couple weeks. And I'm just about
out of time. I know the Church is true and I know that Jesus Christ is
my Savior and Redeemer, and that He lives.
Hope everyone is doing well and stuff! Love you all!
Hermana Rust
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